It took two and a half days for Ember to fully recover from the events that had taken place, at least physically. He drifted in and out of consciousness. Every time he woke, either the doctor was there or Chris was, usually reading something or fiddling with some tool or trinket. Ember was never conscious long enough to truly absorb anything he heard, and Chris hadn’t offered much information anyway.

  On the third day, Ember was finally able to stand. He didn’t feel tired, just sore. Chris sat not too far away, tossing a knife into the air and catching it by the tip of his fingers.

  “...Ah, so you finally stand,” he said. “You’re kind of like a baby deer, but at least you can walk.”

  Ember grunted in response. “Very funny.”

  Chris only shrugged, and Ember mirrored the gesture.

  “Well,” Chris said, “now that you’re able to wobble around and you don’t look like you’re going to fall asleep in the next ten minutes, we can finally start going over our situation.”

  Ember nodded, then looked down at what he was wearing. It was the first time he’d really noticed. He wasn’t in the tracksuit he had before. Instead, he wore a basic pair of pants and a loose white cotton shirt. Not far away sat a pair of well-worn leather boots.

  “My clothes?” He asked.

  Chris scoffed. “Those old things? We tossed them. You pissed in them like three times, and they weren’t exactly in the greatest condition after you stumbled through the woods like a drunken idiot.”

  Ember frowned. Those had been one of the last things he’d had from his world. Then he looked over to the desk and saw his phone still sitting there. The battery was long dead by now, but it was all he had left. He put it in his pocket, then spent a few minutes walking back and forth, regaining confidence in his legs.

  As he moved, Chris continued talking.

  “We’re in the Guild right now,” he said. “The Guild is a collective of people, more like a company than a collective, I suppose. It’s controlled by Bling, which is the main merchant company in the civilized world. They have complete access to the Frontier until the Frontier is developed by humans, so they have total control of all its resources.”

  He tapped the flat of the knife against his knee.

  “The Guild we’re in helps adventurers, bounty hunters, and people who want to make money. Usually through combat. They post board requests.”

  Ember nodded. Like in books or video games. Makes sense.

  “But that’s not all the Guild does,” Chris went on. “They’re also in charge of most of the travel routes between the cities, the six major cities I talked about before. And they maintain most of the trade routes between them. Because of this, they have a lot of power. Typically, if a traverser comes across, they’ll put them into their service and protection.”

  Ember held up a hand. “Wait, what’s a traverser? I’ve heard that name passed around a few times, but I don’t know what it means.”

  “Ah,” Chris said. “Right, I forgot. A traverser is someone from another world.”

  Ember’s eyebrows shot up. They made it sound like a regular occurrence. He steadied himself against the wall as he commented.

  Chris nodded. “Yeah. They are. There’s a lot of traversers. There’s probably a few here in the Guild right now. And there’re probably dozens within the city, though most traversers stick to themselves and don’t really talk to other people. Some are...less than sane. Others just don’t want to draw attention to themselves.”

  He seemed to ponder something, then shook his head.

  “No one really understands why, but it most traversers have some kind of built-in translator. I never really understood that part. Anyway, traversers like you aren’t exactly rare, but it is rare for a traverser to cross over with a pseudo-legendary weapon.”

  He waved away the forming question on Ember’s face.

  “I’ll explain that later. We don’t want to overload you with information.”

  He pointed the knife at Ember.

  “Now, as for you and your situation, unfortunately, you managed to piss off a cult. And that cult now wants to hang your head on a tree. And to double the deal, they want to take mine as well.”

  He said it like it was just another everyday inconvenience.

  “So what? Do we just stay here forever?” Ember asked, his heart pounding at the thought of meeting the cultist again.

  Chris shook his head. “Unfortunately, the Guild’s protection can only go so far. Once we step out of the city, we’re basically in their hands. And since they’re guarding every exit and stalking pretty much all our movements, we can’t leave the city. Honestly, we probably shouldn’t even be leaving the Guild hall, but we don’t really have a choice. We need to get you a little more…” His eyes traveled up and down Ember. “Equipped.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “Why are you helping me?” Ember asked. He couldn’t figure it out. This guy had nothing to gain from helping him. At least that’ what Ember assumed.

  Chris shrugged. “That’s for me to know and you to find out. But it doesn’t help that you stole my prize from me. So, at the very least, I think you owe me. I helped you, now you gotta help me.”

  “Right,” Ember said, hesitantly.

  He couldn’t help feeling conflicted about Chris. The man had been here the entire time and seemed decent enough, but Ember couldn’t shake the feeling Chris had ulterior motives, ones he wasn’t sharing. Then again, do I really have a choice? I’m in a strange world with no idea what’s happening or where I am.

  Chris nodded. “Good, good. Now that you have a basic idea of what’s going on and where we are, let’s get you situated.”

  Ember slowly walked over to the boots and put them on. “Feels weird not to wear socks,” he mumbled, though he didn’t dwell on it. He picked up the sword, which felt perfectly balanced in his hands. The gold engraving down the center of the blade, shaped like clouds, almost seemed to move, though it was probably just an optical illusion.

  This was the first time Ember had really stared at the sword since he’d gotten it. He hadn’t been in the right mindset before. Every now and then, the cries and screams of the people in the cathedral, and the frozen bodies of other poor souls who’d been sucked into this world and left to freeze where he’d pulled the sword, flashed through his mind. With great effort, he shoved those images away. He couldn’t afford to break down again. He was in a mysterious world and his life was on the line. Trauma could wait, even if he knew he was going to regret that later.

  Ember tilted the sword into the light. What is with this sword? It almost seemed to absorb the light around it. It was a strange effect he couldn’t explain, but it was…pretty cool.

  “Everyone calls it the Meteorite Sword,” Chris replied, as if reading Ember’s thoughts. “No one really knows the actual name of the weapon, but it’s rumored that it’s made from a fallen meteorite, and that little dungeon area you were in before, down at the very bottom where the sword was said to be laid, was where the meteorite was supposed to be.”

  Ember grimaced. “I don’t know if I’d call what I saw down there cool. Though if you mean in a literal sense, I suppose that’s not technically wrong.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle at the ridiculous words he’d just said. Chris gave him a quizzical look but didn’t press the issue.

  “Well, first things first. We gotta get you some new clothes, and we need to get you a sheath for that weapon. We can’t have you walking around with a legendary sword on full display for any idiot willing to test their luck.”

  “I was just thinking that myself,” Ember murmured. “I wouldn’t want to accidentally impale myself.”

  “As if,” Chris said. “Let’s go.”

  He walked confidently out of the room and Ember reluctantly followed, his mind still reeling from the dump of information.

  Outside, a large hall stretched before him. It was very stereotypical fantasy-esque, and Ember couldn’t help but note the similarity. Reminds me of anime or video game halls. Though it looks less cool in real life. Less...shiny.

  He glanced around. On one end was a desk area that looked meant for paperwork or administration. On the other side was a food hall with a dozen tables. In the center stood a large board covered with posters. A couple of stairways went up on either side, likely leading to rooms or something similar. Small potted plants broke up the humble space, giving it a exotic, albeit small, feel.

  Chris strode confidently toward the poster board.

  “This,” he said, “is the quest board. We probably won’t be doing anything here, in all honesty. We don’t really have the freedom to do so. But maybe, when we get out of here, we could do a few quests together. You’ll need to make money anyway.”

  Ember looked at the posters, but he couldn’t read any of the text. It was all in a mysterious language. When he pointed this out, the violet-eyed man sighed.

  “I forgot about that,” Chris muttered to himself. “Right. Traversers can speak and listen to us in our language, but you can’t read it. For some reason, that doesn’t translate. So, if you ever want to learn to read, you’re gonna have to actually learn the language, which is a very weird paradox nobody really understands, but it’s there. Maybe if we survive this ordeal, I can teach you a few things.”

  Ember frowned slightly. “You’re making it sound like we’re gonna be together for a long time.”

  Chris shrugged. “I mean…do we really have a choice?”

  “I guess not,” Ember mumbled. He’s helped me this far. Why should I say no? Surely he’s not going to kill me and rob me, is he? I’ve got nothing. He shook the thought away.

  Before Chris could speak again, a voice echoed across the hall.

  “Chris. I see that our young Traverser has finally managed to walk.”

  The voice was deep, but elegant. A man approached wearing a tuxedo suit that felt strikingly out of place in the rustic hall. He had graying hair, a large mustache, and bright gray eyes.

  He smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ember. I am the Guildmaster. You may call me Avis.”

  He held out his hand, which Ember reluctantly shook.

  “You have had an unfortunate start to your journey through the Frontiers,” Avis said, “but worry not. For as long as you’re within the city, we will provide you our utmost protection. As is Guild policy.”

  Ember nodded like he understood. “I appreciate it.”

  “Of course, of course. You will have to pay off your debt eventually, but consider it free of charge for now.”

  Debt? Is he serious? I had to deal with that shit back home. I guess some things never change.

  Avis’s expression remained pleasant, as he read Ember flawlessly. “You think we would protect you and give you a place to stay and food for free? Now, of course, due to your particular circumstances, we don’t expect you to go out and take quests. After all the cult isn’t very pleased with your or Sir Chris’s presence here and they would surely impede you. But Guild policy is Guild policy.”

  He turned to Chris. “I assume you have some ideas?”

  “Yes,” Chris said with a nod. “Though maybe not said out here in the hall for everyone to hear.”

  He motioned for them to follow.

  As they crossed the hall toward one of the stairways, Ember looked around again. There were maybe thirty or forty people present. Many wore armor and carried weapons, and many were staring pointedly at the sword in Ember’s hand. He tightened his grip on it.

  I don’t know why I can’t let this sword go. It just feels wrong. Maybe I’ll ask Chris about it.

  As they climbed the stairs, Avis rambled about their establishment and how they’d come to be in the Frontier. It was mostly information Ember couldn’t care less about. His mind was preoccupied with the screams and cries of those he’d killed. He tried not to dwell on it, but he wasn’t doing a good job.

  What snapped him out of it was slamming straight into Chris’s back.

  "Watch where you’re going,” He chided.

  “Sorry,” Ember mumbled.

  A door opened and Avis gestured them in.

  “Please. We have much to discuss, many things to talk about. Though, unfortunately, our time is not infinite, so I will have to abbreviate.”

  They walked into the room. It appeared to be a small office with two chairs on one side and a plain desk on the other, with a larger cushioned chair behind it.

  “Let’s talk,” Avis said.